Corndel Ltd

Corndel Limited

Address: 5th Floor, 80 Old Street, London, EC1V 9AZ Unique reference number (URN): 1278673

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, learners are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect providers for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The provider has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The provider has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have embedded a highly inclusive culture where apprentices feel valued and that they belong. Leaders have developed very effective strategies and approaches to inclusion that support apprentices’ progress and achievement extremely well.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have put in place clear and highly effective processes to identify the wide range of barriers that apprentices may face to their success. They have strengthened support by investing in a well ‑ qualified and experienced learner success team.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders ensure that staff use detailed information about apprentices’ needs to put in place highly effective bespoke support that meet apprentices’ needs very well. They adapt support when apprentices’ needs change. Leaders understand when apprentices support needs change because they carefully and systematically monitor the progress of those receiving additional support.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders promote English and mathematics to apprentices when this is not a requirement of their programme, but is a barrier to apprentices' long ‑ term success. Apprentices taking English and mathematics qualifications receive very effective additional support, and a high proportion achieve these.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders ensure that coaches are well supported to teach apprentices with barriers to their education. They provide coaches with helpful information about apprentices with additional learning needs and train them on how to support those apprentices, such as using live captions for those who are hard of hearing and helping apprentices whose first language is not English. Coaches have access to a specialist team for further guidance.

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Inclusion Strong standard

A very high proportion of apprentices with barriers to their education complete their qualifications and achieve distinction grades.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have established rigorous and effective quality assurance systems. Using audits, surveys and analysis of high ‑ quality data, they understand strengths and areas for development of their curriculums very well. For example, they are aware of variations in achievement rates for courses such as the level 3 fundraiser apprenticeship and have developed improvement actions which are having a positive impact.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders and those responsible for governance have created a positive culture of continuous improvement. Their vision for excellence across the curriculum is clearly communicated and understood by staff. They carefully evaluate the impact of their actions and use this to make decisions that are in the best interests of apprentices.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Those responsible for governance have extensive experience in business and education. Through analysis of the data and reports from senior leaders, they have an accurate understanding of the provider's strengths and areas for development. Board members provide effective support and challenge to leaders on a range of performance measures, such as on the number of apprentices on break in learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders are considerate of staff workload and wellbeing. Staff feel very well supported, report manageable workloads, feel confident to raise concerns and trust leaders to take effective actions when they do. Leaders recognise the challenges of remote working and arrange team ‑ building and regional events for staff to create networking opportunities.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Coaches benefit from effective professional development aligned to their needs. This includes mandatory safeguarding and 'Prevent' duty training, university ‑ led masterclasses, maintaining industry expertise and supporting new coaches to achieve teaching qualifications.

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Achievement Strong standard

Apprentices make extensive progress from their starting points and learn substantial new knowledge, skills, and behaviours, including significantly improving their English, mathematics and digital skills. Those on leadership courses learn to complete stakeholder mapping tasks confidently and apply theoretical models in strategic decisions very effectively.

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Achievement Strong standard

Qualification achievement rates are high and have increased over the past 3 years. Most apprentices, including those with barriers to education, achieve distinction grades.

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Achievement Strong standard

Apprentices' written work is of a high standard and aligns very well with academic conventions. Apprentices demonstrates in-depth understanding of core knowledge and draw very effectively on theoretical principles to support their ideas.

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Achievement Strong standard

The new knowledge and skills apprentices acquire helps them grow significantly in confidence, become self ‑ assured and develop the behaviours needed to perform to high standards. Many take on new responsibilities at work, such as leading important projects. Apprentices are ambitious and very well prepared to progress in their careers.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have developed highly purposeful curriculums that align closely to the needs of employers for skilled leaders, managers, data analysts and engineers, fundraisers, human resources professionals and artificial intelligence practitioners.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders ensure the curriculums provide apprentices with a rich variety of activities including masterclasses, personalised one-to-one sessions, group workshops and online learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff sequence the curriculums very effectively. On many programmes, including the level 7 senior leader course, apprentices complete 360-degree reflective feedback to understand their development needs. Coaches use this information to help apprentices choose suitable approaches to effective strategic decision ‑ making.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders ensure learning is accessible for all apprentices. Coaches provide highly effective support that enables apprentices with additional needs to participate fully and make sustained progress.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff work very effectively with employers to ensure apprentices study an up-to-date curriculum. Staff have included contents on artificial intelligence and its ethical use across various programmes which has been well received by employers.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have designed a high-quality online learning platform that apprentices use very well for their independent study. Apprentices benefit greatly from comprehensive online resources such as expert-led webinars, articles, templates and interactive learning materials.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Coaches use their expertise very well to bring learning to life through strategies such as voting polls and breakout rooms to stimulate group discussions. They present complex concepts clearly using examples, step-by-step instructions and careful questioning to check apprentices' understanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Coaches provide high-quality feedback on apprentices’ written work. They give clear guidance and key developmental points for improvement. Consequently, apprentices improve their work over time.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Leaders and coaches create a highly inclusive and supportive learning environment. They set clear expectations for professional conduct. Apprentices are respectful and enthusiastically take part in all parts of their training programmes.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Leaders have an effective focus on and understanding of apprentices’ wider development needs and the qualities and behaviours they need for success. Coaches incorporate the personal development of apprentices skilfully into the curriculums. Apprentices develop very well their confidence and self-awareness and make links between their own behaviours and the impact these have at work.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Coaches include fundamental British values and inclusion in coaching sessions very effectively. Apprentices develop a strong understanding of professional responsibility, inclusive practice, and ethical leadership.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Leaders have very high expectations for attendance and a secure oversight of apprentices’ attendance and participation. Apprentices attend very well and see the value in their attendance at masterclasses, reviews and workshops.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Leaders have a very well-considered approach to supporting all apprentices’ career development that is based on apprentices’ individual needs, circumstances and motivations. Leaders adapt their guidance dependent on apprentices’ age and stage of their careers. For example, those studying at level 3 benefit from well-structured and personalised career information and guidance from their expert coaches.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices greatly appreciate the excellent support they receive from their coaches, who are industry experts. Apprentices really value the time coaches take to get to know them, understand their progress and identify obstacles to their education. They are well motivated and enjoy attending workshops and one-to-one online coaching sessions. Coaches provide highly impactful support that meets apprentices’ individual needs very well. This helps apprentices to make substantial progress from their starting point in their studies.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices are extremely satisfied with the quality of the education that they receive. They quickly become highly confident and motivated to complete their apprenticeship. They gain substantial new knowledge and skills relevant to their job roles. For example, those on the level 4 associate project manager apprenticeship develop a detailed understanding of the role and importance of stakeholders in managing complex projects and how this applies to the projects they manage at work. Apprentices on the level 7 senior leader apprenticeship, learn how to deal with conflict and challenging conversations at work effectively while maintaining focus and clarity.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices with barriers to their education receive highly effective support and adaptations they need to excel on their courses. For example, those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are provided with practical time ‑ management tools to help them manage the demands of balancing work and study. Coaches of these apprentices use visual aids to support verbal explanation, summarise key points at the end of each section to reinforce learning and ensure that apprentices have access to recordings of sessions so they can revisit the content at their own pace. Those apprentices value that their choices about what support strategies to adopt are respected by coaches.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices, who return to education after a long break, value the way their coaches break down academic terms into simple language as this makes them quickly feel more confident in their abilities.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices appreciate that coaches frequently check in on their wellbeing and emphasise the importance of good mental and physical health. For example, level 3 team leader/supervisor apprentices working in high-risk environments such as major construction sites discuss safety and wellbeing as part of frequent one-to-one sessions.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Apprentices study in highly organised professional learning environments. They benefit from a clearly designed, rich online learning platform that supports independent study effectively. Apprentices benefit from having access to high ‑ quality resources on a wide range of personal development topics such as mental health and wellbeing, protected characteristics, discrimination and equalities. In addition, apprentices frequently attend masterclasses on topics such as artificial intelligence, facilitated by leading university experts.

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Next steps

• Leaders should continue to enhance the quality of training and thereby further increase the proportion of apprentices who successfully achieve their qualifications across all apprenticeships.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with leaders, coaches, support staff, employers, apprentices, and board members during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider:

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About this inspection

Corndel Limited is a large national independent learning provider offering apprenticeships. The training mainly takes place online. Their main office is located in the London borough of Islington.

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About this inspection

The main subject areas for apprenticeships are leadership and management, data and digital skills, and business.

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About this inspection

Some of the largest programmes include level 7 senior leader with more than 2,800 apprentices, level 5 operations manager with more than 2,300 apprentices, and level 3 team leader/supervisor with more than 1,700 apprentices. There were also around 1,000 apprentices on the level 3 data technician apprenticeship, 900 on the level 4 data analyst and 100 apprentices on the level 3 fundraise apprenticeship.

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About this inspection

The provider trains apprentices for around 500 employers such as banks, the National Grid and the National Health Service.

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Team inspectors:

Jon Bowman, His Majesty's Inspector Robert Busby, Ofsted Inspector Ramita Tejpal, Ofsted Inspector Akhil Amlani, Ofsted Inspector Andrea McMahon, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other providers can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The provider reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The provider is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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